Hello everyone! We pick up right where we left off, enjoy!
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act II.
The Heart of Darkness.
Chapter XIV.
Ghosts of The Fallen Order.
I didn't know what was going to happen as the door to this room was melted away, however, what I least expected was for Phanza, who had just a moment earlier been posed and ready to fight, to deactivate her lightsaber and walking over to the door controls. Suddenly, a room full of hardened criminals and a disguised Jedi Padawan was rendered absolutely speechless when Phanza, disguised as Zapnha Tamat, opened the door as the clone troopers were cutting through it their torches, walking over to them with her hands on her hips. The clones, now dressed in utterly bland, utterly white versions of their armor, completely devoid of personality and individuality, seemed just as shocked as we were, having never seen a woman this brazen before. Not only was Zapnha staring down at these clones, but she was so sure of her actions that she looked properly pissed off, as if she had the audacity to, as a mere casino owner, stare down instruments of Palpatine's control and tell them off for damaging her door. Of course, I knew that she was a Sith and had the power to back it up - given that her first reaction was to fight with a lightsaber, I suspected many of these criminals had questions about her, to say the least - but even I thought this act was absolutely shocking, after all, these clones literally just killed thousands of Jedi around the galaxy, including my master and, very nearly, myself. I killed clones to escape Ypherro, I killed more cones than was strictly necessary, now, am I really going to see a Sith Lord get us out of a fight with these clones simply by bluffing? No, there is no way that this could possibly work.
"Excuse me, just what the hell are you doing to my door?" Zapnha asked the clones, getting in his face as the clone with the cutting torch got up, the others legitimately not knowing how to react to her, some kept their guns drawn, others, cautiously, tried pulling their commander back, and a few were honestly too confused to even do anything as the owner of the Star Cluster casino took him to task.
"Civilian, step back and identify yourself." the clone commander ordered, pushing the Nautolan back and raising his blaster. I tried not to flinch as I heard the all too familiar voice and the all too familiar gentle distortion of the helmet, the one I heard so many times before, and the one that betrayed me and the rest of the Jedi because of a few simple words from Chancellor Palpatine, but even if I did, everyone was too focused on Zapnha Tamat and the clones she was arguing with to notice my reaction. It was a strange experience, being in a room full of criminals as enemy clone troopers interrogated a disguised Phanza, what was even stranger is that, somehow, no one has fired off a weapon yet. Sensing that it was safer to do what the clones said, Phanza played along, meanwhile, I cautiously made me way over to her, joining the Nautolan and keeping my hands away from my blasters as some of the clones finally turned their attention over to me. It was hard to tell now in the cold, unpainted armor that they wore, but I may well have served alongside some of these clones during the war, now look where we are.
"I am Zapnha Tamat, the owner of this casino, and the woman wondering why a bunch of bounty hunter lookalikes are trampling over my carpets and burning through my doors - some of these doors are over three thousand years old you know, it's not easy to find replacements!" Phanza ranted to the clones, impressing me with how easily she fell into the roll of this character and, even here, when she was upset with the clones, her natural accent wasn't peaking through. In short, the woman was doing a very good job of playing her part, something which I knew I wasn't as good at, awkwardly trying to appear like a common gunslinger while up against clones and sensing those two oddly familiar presences tearing through the casino, as if they were methodically searching through the casino. In all honesty, it wouldn't surprised me, at all, if they were on the hunt for two Force presences themselves, those being myself and Phanza.
"Explain the lightsaber, quickly." the clone commander ordered, ready to fire. Phanza wasn't a Jedi, the clones likely had a full database of any Jedi known to the Galactic Republic, none of who were red-skinned Nautolan casino owners on Nar Shaddaa, nevertheless, having a lightsaber was still highly suspicious and illegal, so Phanza needed to tread carefully if we were going to get out of this situation alive. I have to assume that's her whole goal with confronting the clones like this, suspecting that the sheer surprise of this and the strength of her disguise would give us a much better chance than trying to fight our way out of here, in fact, if this succeeds, the Star Cluster casino may even survive. There is no chance that Palpatine wouldn't destroy the casino if we did fight, even if we escaped.
"It's a wonderful trophy, really, and it speaks volumes in the criminal underworld. You should get one yourself, I hear the Jedi aren't really maintaining their monopoly on them anymore." Zapnha replied, effortless, even making a morbid joke about the Jedi. I wasn't comfortable with her mocking the genocide of my order, my friends, and my mentors, but I understood that distancing ourselves as much as possible from the Jedi really was going to help us survive this, as unlikely as this seems. In the corner of my eye, I saw two clones glance at each other and lower their guns, seemingly implying that this answer was to their satisfaction, that being said, they were still at attention and would reaction immediately if we gave them a reason to.
"CT-8802, confiscate the lightsaber and her blasters, Lord Vader will deal with these two." the clone commander ordered and another clone came over and took our weapons, which we willingly gave up. The clones then formed a perimeter around us and escorted us over to the man himself, Darth Vader. I was panicking now, because, if I found him familiar, he would find me familiar - as if being Force-sensitive in Palpatine's galaxy wasn't already a death sentence - Phanza was still annoying and heckling the clone troopers to maintain her disguise, chastising them on their dirty boots and making sure her patrons were still able to gamble, receiving silence and the occasional jab from a blaster in response, however, I soon realized that, at the same time, Phanza was contacting me through our mental link.
"I won't pretend I'm nearly as good at is as Sidious, nor can I keep it going for long, but ever since we found out the truth about him, I've been trying to replicate his ability to disguise himself from the Jedi. It's actually somewhat similar to what Sith Assassins use to remain hidden - " Phanza started before I mentally interrupted her. The fact that Sith Assassins are so common that there is an archetype for them is concerning enough, as is the fact they can apparently become invisible, however, as fascinating as that conversation could be, now is not the time, nor the place to have it. We're getting closer to Vader and we're running out of time, Phanza's idea working was literally life or die for us now.
"As interesting as that is, we're running out of time, how do I do it?" I pressed in response, needing a quick answer. In the distance, behind us, I heard another group of clones entering the room we were just in, likely going to interrogate Dalenda and the other underworld contacts, knowing that they would escape if left unattended for too long - for all we know, some of the more nimble and less obvious ones did manage to slip out between us being escorted out and the other clones arriving - I just hoped that none of them figured out anything too obvious about us, after all, the revelation that Phanza was trained with a lightsaber would definitely warrant Vader's wrath, as if the rest of this situation didn't already.
"Okay, here's how to do it..." Phanza explained, I followed along, finding that, while I could still feel Phanza clear as day through our bond and I knew she was there, I stopped being able to sense her, as if her Force-sensitivity decreased to the level of an ordinary person and, a few moments later, Phanza smirked, revealing that I succeeded as well. Not a moment too soon either, because, a mere moment later, we rounded a corner and came face to face with Darth Vader and what appeared to be a Twi'lek woman, armored head to toe, wearing an odd ring-shaped lightsaber at her hip, a very different style from Vader's traditional weapon. Who was this woman then? One of those Inquisitors that Palpatine spoke about? I didn't know, but her presence was definitely familiar, suggesting she was once a Jedi. The clone, CT-8802 handed over our weapons, Vader taking a close look at the lightsaber before igniting it. Between the red and black blade, the unique style, and the context it was in, it was obvious that this wasn't a Jedi weapon, but, if anything, that only gave Vader more questions about us.
"You are Zapnha Tamat, owner of this casino." Vader barked out, more an accusation than a question, and, all the while, his deep, mechanical breathing filled the hall, adding even more to his presence. Not only was Darth Vader massive, not only did he hold a lightsaber, not only did he clearly have powerful cybernetics boosting his raw strength, not only did he have access to the Force in a galaxy purged of the Jedi, but he had that distinctive, bone-chilling breathing, a distinctive characteristic that was only just beginning to affect the galaxy. I was definitely scared, but Phanza didn't seem phased, perhaps her experience with Grand Duchess Voytana numbed her to powerful dark side figures.
"At your service, Lord Vader, welcome to the Star Cluster casino, the finest establishment in the skies above Nar Shaddaa. Your men were rather rude to me and made a bit of a miss, but I'll forgive it, after all, I pride myself on attracting high end clients such as yourself. What can I do for you?" Zapnha asked, behaving as if this was a casual business meeting rather than a tense negotiation, all in an effort to throw the two Imperials off. Surprisingly, Vader legitimately seemed stunned for a moment - an odd image to say the least, the mighty enforcer of Chancellor Palpatine, the mechanical man meant to crush any resistance to the Empire and hunt down the last of the Jedi, was being thrown by, from his perspective, a mere fearless casino owner. The woman, who I suspected was an Inquisitor, wasn't thrown though, but I don't think she heard a word exchanged between Vader and Phanza, because, the whole time, the Twi'lek woman simply stared at me, not saying anything, just looking, as if she was trying to dissect every detail of me face. It was concerning, to say the least.
"...We are here on behalf of the Empire, we sensed two Force-sensitives here, where are they?" Vader demanded, ignoring Phanza's antics and pressing her, closing his hand around her lightsaber as if he was threatening to crush it if Zapnha didn't answer, destroying her precious "trophy" if he didn't get the information that he wanted. The fact that Phanza's cover identity was a Nar Shaddaa elite is likely the only reason we're still alive, because even Palpatine knows that killing the criminal elite on Nar Shaddaa could interfere in his business interests on the planet. No doubt the Hutts, Bounty Hunters' Guild, Exchange, and all the other organizations present will be pressing Palpatine to give them special privileges and dispensation following their interrogation. The information, illegal experiments, and contraband found on Nar Shaddaa is, in some cases, literally only found here, Palpatine doesn't want to lose that, and Vader knows it. That gives Zapnha Tamat a certain amount of safety, but it only goes so far, and Phanza and I are both well aware of that.
"Gambling, I'd hope - Force-sensitives have credits too." Zapnha replied, still taking this whole situation facetiously, but her reply did have an answer within it, suggesting that Lady Tamat didn't know about any Force-sensitives. At the same time, her answer, showing no disdain for Force-sensitives and suggesting that she'd let them gamble in her casino was a slap in the face to the Empire. Phanza was a brilliant woman and, in this alter ego, she was really unleashing an incendiary wit on Vader and this masked Inquisitor. I could almost enjoy this situation if it wasn't dripping with reminders that the Jedi are being hunted down and executed all over the galaxy, with Vader now leading the crusade against my order. Each mechanical breath a reminder that my very own survival in this situation was far from guaranteed, especially given Zapnha Tamat was openly flaunting the fact that she knew the Empire wouldn't just kill her, seeing Nar Shaddaa contacts like her useful. I wonder how much Vader knew about this alter ego - did he connect to spies to Zapnha yet? Did he know about the New Revanites? Either of those things could get both of us killed, even if everything else marked us as innocent. Phanza didn't let us simply rest on that moment, for she continued with pestering Vader "Two Force-sensitives you say? How about we split the prize then, you get one lightsaber, I'll add the other to my collection?"
"You will identify them!" Vader resorted to trying a mind trick, having his hand and using the Force on Zapnha, fortunately, the disguised Sith was smart, and she knew that such mind tricks only worked on the weak-minded. Phanza knew that, even if she wasn't a Force-sensitive, she was more than smart and resilient enough to survive this mental onslaught, thus she made a fool of Vader.
"You will wave your hand around like an idiot." Zapnha mimicked Vader's action and injected false gravitas into her voice. Here, yet again, Phanza was careful to deliberately get the action wrong, as if she really was just trying to copy Vader rather than commit an action she doubtlessly has done before, after all, the lightsaber was curious enough, but Zapnha Tamat knowing the proper motions for a mind trick? That would be a death sentence. Phanza knew what she was doing and she was playing Vader like he was an incompetent fool, but it was still frightening. This was a former Jedi turned cyborg Sith murderer, even if Phanza knew that her cover identity was somewhat safe from the Empire, I couldn't help but cringe at her remarks, wondering which one would push Vader over the edge, which one would lead to Vader snapping and killing us, which remark would lead to Vader inadvertently completing his mission?
"Stop with your games and answer me - where are the Force-sensitives?" Vader demanded, igniting Phanza's lightsaber and prepared to strike Zapnha down with her own weapon if she tried making another joke or embarrassing him yet again. Fortunately, Zapnha was indeed a smart woman and she knew that now was the time to stop joking, she instantly grew quiet and respectful.
"With all due respect, Lord Vader, I don't know about any Force-sensitives within my casino, I was busy attending a meeting with some business partners when, all of a sudden, clones are cutting through my door. You're a Jedi, right? Can't you just sense the Force-sensitives?" Zapnha asked, putting her shadowing technique to the test, hoping that, even face to face, Vader wouldn't pick either of us up as particularly Force-sensitive. I had hope that this would work, but I was also worried, because, even before this, the Twi'lek female Inquisitor was still starring at me, as if she knew me, and, considering we're both very likely former Jedi, there is a high chance she did. The Inquisitor may not need the Force to identify me but, if so, why hasn't she said anything yet?
"They've gotten away." Vader growled after searching through the Force for a few moments, he turned to the female Inquisitor, likely to give her an order, however, that is when he noticed his companion's stare. All of a sudden, Vader's attention turned to me, one former Jedi looking at another, and I tried my very hardest to put up a front of ambivalence, but, in reality, I was terrified, fearing that I was found out. My dread only increased as Vader turned back to Zapnha Tamat and asked a question that could doom the both of us "Who is she?"
"Her? She's my bodyguard, Vyvienne Alzicia, why?" it rolled out of Phanza's mouth nonchalantly, throwing out a false name derived from my actual name, but changed more extensively that even her alias. Vyvienne was derived from my surname of Vyvan, but it sounded completely different and came across differently, and Alzicia wasn't simply an anagram of Zaliza, Phanza put more thought into this pseudonym than her own, and that thought may have just saved us both from Vader recognizing us. In any case, I took good care to note that, making sure our stories would be consistent should the Empire decide to separate us and interrogate us separately, though I do hope things don't come to that. I want to get out of this situation as soon as possible and hopefully get off this planet as quickly as possible, and, in an ideal world, Phanza and the Grand Duchy won't lose control of the Star Cluster casino either.
"Silence. Sister, remain here and search the patrons, I will search the surface myself." Vader ordered, making his subordinate weed out any potential Force-sensitives amongst the gamblers and guests here, meanwhile, Vader himself was going to search the slums of Nar Shaddaa, suspecting that the potential Jedi disappeared into the crime ridden streets of the smuggler's moon. I mentally breathed a sigh of relief, the Inquisitor was dangerous enough, but the combined onslaught of Vader, the Inquisitor, and their clones? That would be deadly, even with Phanza's power and the surprise of us both having the Force, we wouldn't stand a chance. My sigh of relief was short-lived, because Phanza decided to push her luck.
"Can I have my trophy back then?" Zapnha asked, trying to get her lightsaber back. I watched Vader as, instead of speaking, he took a two-handed grip on her still ignited lightsaber, raising the curved hilt blade high above his head, and I flinched as he brought it down. Zapnha Tamat, however, did not, and, just before her head, the blade stopped - for a moment I feared that Phanza used the Force, but that wasn't it, Vader himself stopped - I realized that Zapnha, feeling invincible, called Vader's bluff, and, all of a sudden, the lightsaber deactivated and Vader wordlessly dropped the weapon for Phanza to catch it. The Dark Lord of the Sith stomped off to hunt the Jedi, not wanting to speak with the casino owner any longer, not wanting to hear her sharp tongue tormenting him when he didn't even have his usual privilege of executing Phanza for her insolence - what does it say about Palpatine and his Empire that an underworld contact is safer from their wrath than the actual clones and officers in the Imperial Army? In any case, having her lightsaber back, Phanza and I turned around and left, trying to get away from the endless stare of the Inquisitor, the one who Vader called Sister - was that a callsign of some sort? A naming scheme? I wasn't sure, not yet anyway.
"Vader slipped a tracker on my lightsaber, he's not really leaving. I can't just destroy the tracker or he'll come back and hunt us down, fortunately, I have a better idea - a wild goose chase." Phanza explained through our mental link, gently prying the little tracker off of her lightsaber and dropping it on one of the circular cleaning bots - similar to the ones at Castle Attam, but not exactly the same, after all, despite her cover identity being a mere anagram for her name, Phanza was rather careful about the details, the cleaning bots at the Star Cluster were likely designed here on Nar Shaddaa, far away from the ones on Taaszon - I watched the tracker magnetize to the cleaning bot, watching it disappear into a gap in the wall and continue through the Star Cluster casino. Looking around, these little wall gaps were all over the casino, likely linked to a miniature network of access tunnels, allowing the cleaning bots to get anywhere and everywhere in the Star Cluster with rapid speed. It was a highly efficient and useful system, and it would also confound the Imperial forces tracking us.
"Are we going to the ship then? Staying any longer will just risk us being compromised and the Empire taking your casino." I replied, showing just how tense I felt. I didn't believe in disguise, I was terrified of Vader, and that Twi'lek Inquisitor, the Sister, definitely at least suspects me. As far as I'm concerned, remaining here is extremely dangerous and we need to get out of here as soon as possible. We want information on Vader, yes, but Palpatine's apprentice is clearly one step ahead of us, and staying here any longer is a risk we can't afford to take. We can't remain blind to the Empire, I understand that, believe me, I know that Taaszon doesn't stand a chance against Palpatine without all the spies and subterfuge we can get, but there is nothing more that we can do here. We'll have to wait for another day, another time, another opportunity, one that may not even come. I don't want to admit this, I really, really don't, but just in the speed that Vader and the Inquisitor shut us down today, before they even knew what we were here to discuss, simply based on us both being Force-sensitive, suggests that we may be completely outmatched. How are we supposed to spy on the Empire when Palpatine and Vader clearly have superior spies at their disposal? This whole struggle just might be pointless, maybe Palpatine has truly done it, maybe he's unstoppable, how could we possibly stand a chance here?
"Not yet, there are some thing we need to get out of here if the Empire is going to be snooping around." Phanza replied and I sighed, acknowledging she was right but still feeling uncomfortable in this situation. I wasn't quite sure what Phanza needed to retrieve, but I suspect it was something that could link the Star Cluster to either Taaszon or to the ancient Sith, either one could bring Palpatine's wrath down on this particular property on Nar Shaddaa. I followed Zapnha Tamat as she led me down a circuitous route through the Star Cluster, likely trying to shake off any Imperial surveillance, ending up in a corridor leading towards, below the main gambling floor of the casino. I followed the disguised Sith Lord as we entered a part of the casino that truly did look nearly four thousand years old, the lower maintenance sections not requiring the modern glitz and glamour of the publicly accessible parts of the establishment, here, it was just the old metal infrastructure working all the functions below, maintained by both the little cleaning droids and larger, more advanced units, doing whatever was required. In the relative safety of this basement section, Phanza finally felt safe speaking openly, even dropping her Zapnha accent.
"We're going to access the vault from behind and remove the virtual deed - it's encrypted, but if the Empire was to access it, they would know that the Star Cluster was still owned by the Sith, we cannot allow that. The Empire already knows about our outlying systems and they are already unknowingly cracking down on our activities within the galaxy, the last thing we need is for them to find evidence that we're the ones responsible. As long as we don't make Palpatine take an interest in us, we're just a problem he has to deal with eventually." Phanza explained, showing that her priority was to maximize the amount of time before the Empire attacked Taaszon, which again, was an understandable goal, but I wasn't sure if it was achievable. Once again, Vader's presence here was proof that the Empire is clearly capable of finding and tracking us in a time we're just not able to cope with, but...on the other hand, delaying the seemingly inevitable Imperial invasion of Taaszon was obviously desirable, and I could think of some things we could do to achieve this goal, though again, I wasn't sure it was possible now that Palpatine had Vader and the Inquisitors in his arsenal.
Propping up resistance movements would mean that Palpatine would be preoccupied with securing the galaxy - that was, obviously, his primary goal at the moment - and there was also a massive population of deactivated battle droids throughout the galaxy. Now, in retrospect, the battle droids were deliberately designed to be inferior to the clones, however, a great number of separatist battle droids and the infrastructure to wield them effectively could still prove to be a time-consuming nuisance to Palpatine's Empire, if we were able to gain control of such a population of droids. We could also interfere with the Empire's ability to wage war, destroying starships, cloning facilities on Kamino, and potentially, even resorting to such unsavory and un-Jedi like tactics as assassination, however, the latter would be more difficult to do without exposing ourselves, as who else would be attacking military resources aimed at Taaszon? Well, I suppose we could also attack military resources elsewhere, forcing Palpatine to redirect resources from a potential invasion of Taaszon and to maintaining his hold over the galaxy, but can we really destroy Imperial war resources faster than the Empire can produce them? I didn't think so, especially given Palpatine now has all the resources of the Republic, the separatists, and the approval of a Senate made up of pacified, terrified would-be dissenters and corrupt loyalists to Palpatine. There was nothing stopping Palpatine from using all his resources to fund a massive war machine.
"Hey - I know now isn't the best time to talk, but don't get stuck in your own head. You can't be the Jedi you need to be or the Sith you could be all by yourself, everyone needs friends." Phanza stopped and squeezed my shoulder, the Nautolan knew we were in a rush, but she did care about me, and despite everything, I did appreciate that. The Sith Lord also reminded me of my options, another interesting thing, rather than being a typical Sith Lord and trying to coerce me, she was giving me options and letting me choose if I want to try and rebuild the Jedi or if I want to follow her philosophy. Phanza Attam doesn't want to make me a Sith, she would like me to willingly become a Sith, and I loved that about her, as strange as that was to say. I may be living in exile, but I had more freedom and more choice with Phanza than I did under the Jedi. In any case, I could appreciate Phanza later, for now, we needed to move, and as we moved through these old, labyrinthine corridors towards the rear of the vault, she told me about her own support network "Ruumshi, Avoine, Ceyla, even HK, they're more than just companions and bodyguards, they're my trusted friends and allies. Even Grand Duchess Voytana, as unwelcoming as she may seem, is a part of my support network and, as my master, she's part of who I am today. No one is strong enough to function entirely alone, even Palpatine has Vader now."
"I'm not sure if I could ever imagine Palpatine and Vader being close, but I understand what you're saying, and I know it's true." I replied, I couldn't help but think back on my own relationship with Ullara, how influential she was to me, and how she kept my Force lightning a secret when, in reality, the Jedi truly could have punished or even killed me out of hear that I'd become a Sith, simply because of my species. I didn't really have the chance to think about just what this theoretical judgement of the now dead Jedi Council would mean before Phanza and I rounded a corner and entered a modern looking, maintained corridor, with a scanner above a small door, one which was hidden on the other side. I watched, silently yet curiously, as it scanned Zapnha Tamat and the door slid open - merely a wall from the casino's vault on the other side - and we were confronted with the diverse contents of the Star Cluster casino vault. Credits, both physical and on chips, hundreds of different alien currencies, various goods and valuables that individuals placed on a gambling table, and miscellaneous other gains - including what appeared to be a solid gold sabacc deck of all things - but, the centerpiece of this vault was the deed. It was digital, but the master copy was stored on the ancient hard drive occupying a pedestal at the rear of the vault. I watched as Phanza retrieved the proof of ownership, denying the Empire the chance of discovering who truly owns the Star Cluster casino and linking this place to the Sith Order and, potentially, to Taaszon itself.
A victory then, we saved ourselves and could now escape. We didn't have the information we wanted on Vader, but we lived to fight another day, and that, I felt, was more important than any piece of information. This brief period of being one step ahead of the Empire, however, didn't last long as, all of a sudden, cutting torches appeared yet again, cutting into the vault. Phanza could have confronted them yet again, defending her vault, but it wasn't important now, securing this information was our priority, so, before the Imperials could breach the vault, Phanza and I slipped out through the secret exit, now trying to make our way back to the Chancellery, trying to avoid Vader and the Inquisitor on our way.
Thus, Zapnha Tamat and I snuck through her own casino, quickly escaping the basement and then winding through the gambling floor, trying to avoid the searching clones, the Inquisitor, and, especially, Vader, should he return, as Phanza expected. Not even two hours ago, Zapnha Tamat and I confidently strolled through these corridors, coming to learn about Vader, instead, here we were, trying to sneak around Vader's troops and feeling like criminals within her own property. This mission was a catastrophic failure and now, rather than getting information on Palpatine's Empire and his new apprentice, we were trying to keep information away from them, we wanted to equalize the situation, instead, we were even further on the back foot. I didn't exactly have the chance to think about us being outmaneuvered by the Imperials, because, all of a sudden, we entered the main lobby, seeing it crawling with Imperials, and there was no other way for us to get to the Chancellery. I wanted to ask Phanza what we were going to do, but the Nautolan already had an idea, heading up the stairs to the second story platform over the lobby, trying to literally go over the bulk of the Imperial force.
There were some Imperials up here as well, the blank, white, sanitized uniforms of the clones patrolling the platform, however, Phanza and I pressed a button on her gauntlet and, suddenly, from the sides of the room, giant sanitation droids came out, trying to clean the lobby as the clones grew confused, trying to maintain order - fortunately for us, the Imperials never actually shut down the Star Cluster casino and, as far as they knew, this was ordinary procedure, thus, with the clones on the upper platform distracted, Phanza and I made our way back down on the other end of the lobby, almost free. Quickly, but not too quickly, Phanza led me to the left of the wall dividing up the casino entrance and then we left the casino, coming out onto the landing platform, free of the clones inside, and seeing the Chancellery out there, so close to escaping, so close to retreating back to the relative safety of Taaszon. There was, however, an obstacle, because there was a black armored figure standing right in front of our ship, skintight black suit, ring lightsaber at her hip, and a helmet over her head, opaque black glass blending into the black armor, plates descending all the way down her lekku, ending in deadly sharp spikes.
"Hello there, need a lift?" Zapnha asked, falling into character, instantly being facetious, spitting in the face of authority. The Inquisitor was, however, not focused on the Nautolan whatsoever, once again, the Twi'lek was looking at me, I could tell even with her visor, that every fiber of her being was completely and utterly focused on me. In this moment, I tried to remember if I had the mask still up, if I was still hiding my Force-sensitivity, but, honestly, I couldn't tell if I was masking myself or not, nor could I feel if Phanza was, right now, I was completely distracted with just how familiar this Twi'lek felt in the Force. I definitely knew who she was, but who exactly was it? There were a number of Twi'lek female Jedi, such as Aayla Secura, who fought with Master Avdune and I on Felucia, even stepping in to replace the 1204th when we returned to Coruscant, beginning the journey that brought Phanza and I together, but...Felucia was rough. All those clones and the separatists right there...I didn't think that Master Secura could have survived. There were a number of younger Twi'lek Padawans as well, but the only one I was particularly close with was Thonna Ai'sunn, but...no, she couldn't have survived Order 66 and, even if she did, even if she somehow survived everything, this couldn't be her, she wouldn't do this. This was somebody else, but who else would have so much interest in me?
"You, get out of here, my interest is with the bodyguard." the Inquisitor spoke, her voice was mechanically distorted, but I knew the voice I heard there. The voice I last heard after we captured Exiim Abarghe, the voice of the woman saved from a tragic pass, the woman who comforted me after I used Force Lightning against the drexl on Dxun. I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it, but it made too much sense. Thonna and her master, Towaan, were the Jedi ambassadors to the Hutts, they operated in diplomacy, often without clones, her death wasn't a guarantee by any means. I was so sure she was dead though - why? Well...perhaps I wanted her to be dead, perhaps it was easier for me to think that my friend was dead than living in a galaxy dominated by Palpatine. Maybe this is why, maybe because now I have to see my friend turned into a weapon in Palpatine's arsenal.
"Becoming separated from my bodyguard isn't exactly the smartest move for someone in my position." Phanza countered, the Nautolan didn't have the full context, but she knew me well enough to know that something was wrong and she could sense my emotional turmoil, the Sith Lord didn't want to leave me alone with this Inquisitor, showing genuine concern for my safety that seemed so odd, so out of place in a Sith Lord, but that's just who Phanza was. I needed to do something though, I had no idea what I was going to do or how it was going to work, but I had to speak to Thonna, I had to figure out how this happened and what I could do to try and fix this. Of course, I had no clue how I could do this, but I still felt the need to try, I wanted to help her.
"Get on the ship and wait for me Phanza, I know who she is." I told Phanza through the mental link, hoping that she would go. Zapnha Tamat faced me, concerned, but she listened to me, walking away with the virtual deed. There was a small action before she left though, using the Force to levitate her lightsaber behind my back, making sure that I had a weapon in case things went wrong. I was used to fighting with a double-bladed lightsaber while Phanza's curved-hilt lightsaber was dialed in for the Makashi form, nevertheless, I would rather have a lightsaber than nothing, a weapon was a weapon, after all. In any case, we stared at each other as Phanza walked off, getting into the ship - I wouldn't put it past her to get on a hidden turret and train it on the Inquisitor's back if she tried anything - and anyone else would've thought we stood there in silence. The truth was far different, my heart was racing, beating so fast I could hear it, my first interaction with a Jedi since Order 66 and it was my friend turned into an Inquisitor, an instrument of the Dark Side, how did this happen?
"How did you survive?" Thonna asked first, a pleading hint to her voice. That gave me hope, maybe she didn't truly believe in Palpatine and his horrible cause, maybe she simply became an Inquisitor because she saw it as the only way to survive, and now, she was being confronted with evidence of another way. Not all that different, I suppose, but, for better or worse, I had to admit that Phanza and even Voytana were much less evil, much less destructive, that Palpatine and, from what little I've seen of him, Vader. If Thonna was still good, there was hope for my friend, this didn't need to be a tragedy.
"I almost didn't. Our clones betrayed us on Ypherro and Master Avdune sacrificed herself to let me escape the planet." I answered, both of us sharing a moment of silence for my deceased master. This was another good sign, she still had a connection to Ullara and to the old Jedi, Thonna wasn't entirely corrupted and absorbed by Imperial propaganda, she could be saved. Motivated by these good signs, I continued "After that, I got R9 and my starfighter, escaping to Imperius Prime. I've been living with Phanza ever since, hidden from the Empire outside of known space. The only reason we were here on Nar Shaddaa to begin with is because we were trying to figure out who Vader was."
"No - Zaliza, you can't go digging into Palpatine and Vader, they will catch you and they will kill you!" Thonna almost panicked, stressing just how miserable the situation was, her warning echoing my own suspicions of this line of inquiry.
"Thonna..." I tried to reply but she instantly interrupted me again, her mask still distorting her beautiful voice into this menacing, mechanical mess that I knew didn't belong with the Twi'lek, but it didn't seem that she had much of a say in the matter whatsoever.
"You can't use that name Zaliza, I can't have that name anymore. I'm the Third Sister now." Thonna answered, revealing her full title - the Third Sister, much like the clones, this was entirely devoid of individuality or agency, just a numbered name, implying that these Inquisitors were just disposable pawns in Palpatine's galactic game. Thonna won't be the last Third Sister, honestly, depending on how risky the Inquisitors' missions have been so far and how rigorous their training has been, she may not even be the first Third Sister, but she certainly hasn't been Thonna Ai'sunn since Order 66.
"Thonna, you can't let them take your name from you, use your power for evil, and throw you away when they don't need you anymore, there is another way. Please, come with us, let us help you." I tried to plead with her, probably too soon, but I didn't know what else I could do, and I knew that time was against us. If Vader or even just some clones arrived on this landing pad, Thonna would need to play the role of the Third Sister Inquisitor and fight me, that's a fight I didn't want, a fight that I couldn't bear to fight against someone who I considered a dear friend not very long ago at all.
"I told you, it's the Third Sister." Thonna replied, I could almost feel like cringing under her mask, as if she didn't want to argue this point but felt she had to...what did the Empire do to her? I wanted to argue against the whole situation, but before I could, the Third Sister continued, this wasn't Thonna speaking anymore, this was the power that the Empire had over her "I can't do that Zaliza, I shouldn't even be letting you leave here. I'm taking enough of a risk as it is, so please, get out of here, leave Nar Shaddaa before Vader discovers you. I will try and lie on your behalf."
It broke my heart to hear this, to hear this woman, the woman who just barely managed to avoid being enslaved by the Hutts thanks to Master Towaan, now reduced to a slave of the Empire, an instrument for Palpatine to hunt down any Jedi stragglers as he consolidates his hold of the whole galaxy, I thought that the Empire killed Thonna Ai'sunn, but the truth is far worse, they turned her into a weapon against her will. She was, however, risking all of that to try and save Phanza and I, putting her neck on the line to allow us to escape, and I knew I had to accept this. Staying here would only lead to all three of us being killed, Phanza and I for being enemies of the regime, and Thonna for not killing us already. I couldn't just leave like that though, I needed something, I needed a reason to keep hope for her, something that would let me save her next time we meet.
"Let me see your face." I replied, somewhat forcefully. I needed this, I needed to know that all of this was real, that I was about to fight for something real. Thonna tried to object but I was having none of it, so, finally, she acquiesced. I watched as the black visor retracted, revealing the violet face of my friend, but...it wasn't the same anymore. Her eyes were a sickly orange, twisted by the Dark Side and, in those orbs, I saw pain, suffering, and fear, all the things that Master Yoda warned about, and all of the things that Palpatine drilled into Thonna and the other Inquisitors. Her skin was paler as well, like a graying lavender, it looked like the very life was being sapped from her and, based on what little I've heard about her life as an Inquisitor, that didn't seem all that far from the truth. Her face bore the scars of Palpatine's machinations, but that only motivated me more, because I knew what that face was, what the face should be, and what that face could be again. I took a deep breath and shared one last moment with the Inquisitor before boarding the ship "Thank you, my friend."
"Just...stay alive, please." Thonna told me, a ghostly whisper in the wind just before her mask slid back on, the last genuine words that she would say for a long time. Phanza and I would escape but, for now, Thonna was doomed to continue being the Third Sister, continue hunting down Jedi and...and even killing them. I'm sure that she wanted to spare everyone she came across, but she couldn't, she needed to keep up appearances to stay alive, she needed to do as Vader and the Emperor commanded, but it didn't have to always be this way. One day, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not the day after, but one day, Phanza and I will find a way to save Thonna from the Empire, that, in every fiber of my being, is a promise.
I changed back into my robes and secured my double-bladed lightsaber at my hip, needing the familiar safety of the weapon and reminder of my Jedi past after everything that happened on Nar Shaddaa. In the other room, Phanza sat at her vanity table and washed the red makeup off of her head tails, exposing her tattoos once more, becoming herself again. It was silent other than the slight buzz of the ship's functions and the smallest of sounds coming from Phanza as she delicately and meticulously did her work, neither of us wanting to break it with an admission of our failure. Failure, that's what it was, what else could we describe it as? We came to learn about Vader, instead, all the underworld contacts we spoke to were arrested - and news travels fast in the criminal underground, no one will be wanting to talk about the Empire now, his attention is clearly bad for business - we knew nothing more about Darth Vader, and now I had to live with the knowledge that Thonna Ai'sunn is not only alive, but forced to work for the Empire.
I was already lucky to be alive, but now I felt even more guilty. I'm living in a damn palace on a planet the Empire doesn't even know about while Thonna Ai'sunn and other former Jedi are being brainwashed into pawns and murderers by the Empire, that's on top of the people who are being forced to live under Palpatine's new autocracy and the clones who are literally mind controlled by Palpatine somehow. People are suffering, clones are suffering, and former Jedi are suffering, and all I have to show for it is wallowing in my own misery on Taaszon making hollow overtures about how I'll rebuild the Jedi to avenge Ullara. How can I rebuild the Jedi when I can't even identify a former Jedi in a helmet or save my best friend from the clutches of the Empire? Failure doesn't just describe our mission, it describes my whole life at this moment, a stupid, scared little girl alone in a harsh and hostile galaxy.
"You're not alone." I rose my head and found Phanza, free of her makeup and changed into a light, purple silk leisure robe, standing in my doorway. Once again, I forgot about the mental link between Phanza and I, forgetting that, in times of distress or emotional turmoil, I was practically broadcasting my thoughts to the Nautolan Sith. This was yet another thing that represented my uselessness, I had a Force bond with a Sith Lord and, rather than actually figuring out why or how it exists and how I can sever it, I can barely be trusted to remember it. Perhaps even worse than that, when I do remember the Force bond with Phanza, I find myself wanting it, I find myself wanting to be closer to this fascinating woman, forgiving the fact she's a Sith.
"I am though, I'm the last Jedi in the galaxy." I lamented, wanting to vent my emotions, telling Phanza about what I experienced on the landing pad once I asked her to leave the two of us alone "Anyone else who survived is either an Inquisitor or going to be killed by an Inquisitor. I thought Thonna was dead, or maybe I just wanted her to be, instead, she's an Inquisitor. She's the Third Sister, and I have no idea how we can possibly save her from he Empire. I want to save her, I need to at least try, but what will Palpatine do to her if I fail? What if I get my best friend killed by trying to save her?"
"You won't fail and you're not alone. I'm helping you Zaliza, and I want to be there for you. We're linked in the Force, when you're hurt, when you're sad, when you're upset, I feel that, and it breaks my heart." Phanza revealed, bringing up the extent of the Force Bond. Perhaps she was stronger in the Force than I was, or perhaps, considering she was likely exploring the Force Bond while I was trying to repress it as a Jedi, she's simply more aware of the connection than I am, but either way, she's more affected by it than I am, and I haven't been considering that nearly as much as I should. Phanza must have felt the guilt flow through me as she sat down on my bed, next to me, and continued "I'm sorry about all of his, you know. I had some suspicions about Palpatine from the moment I met him, but I was never sure. I tried to clue you into my suspicions or, later on, even my evidence that he was more than he appeared, but I never got to he point where I thought that he was a Sith, I couldn't have imagined anything of this scale."
"I don't blame you Phanza, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me Palpatine was a Sith Lord, I didn't even realize until I saw the droids deactivated on Ypherro. At that point, I knew that Palpatine and the Sith Lord behind Count Dooku and the separatists were one in the same." I replied, none of us could have predicted the full truth, but we should have been more suspicious of Palpatine. The man seized too much power, he served too many terms, and his political maneuvers were always too convenient, unfortunately, the evidence came together far too late.
"Palpatine has the galaxy in his trap right now, but it won't last forever. There are those who will fight, there are Jedi who will evade the Inquisitors, and there is the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, and we will stand against the Empire. I don't know when we'll get he chance to save your friend, but, sooner rather than later, she will be on a mission without Vader, without other Inquisitors, and, at that point, we will do everything we can to save her." the Nautolan explained, detailing a sensible scenario where we could free Thonna of the Empire. I released a shaky breath, appreciating the fact that she had some kind of answer, some kind of idea for me. I felt her arm wrap around me and we sunk down onto my little bed together, both of us needing some comfort after today's events. I saw a ghost from my past and Phanza nearly lost her Casino to Darth Vader himself.
"Thank you, for everything." I mumbled before falling asleep, feeling more secure with the Nautolan than I had in a very long time. I really was grateful for everything she did for me, if it wasn't for Phanza, I would have just ran from Ypherro, running until I was killed or worse, made into an Inquisitor like Thonna was. The last thing I wanted was to be forced to hunt down my fellow Jedi, that would be a terrible fate.
Alright, that was quite the chapter. Now, I admit that I did you guys a little dirty here, I built up these last two chapters like they would be focused on Vader, and, while yes, Vader will play a role in this story, we know what happens to him, it's the original trilogy. Thonna, however, is my OC and she's the real Ghost of The Fallen Order mentioned in the chapter title, not Anakin Skywalker. This story has been OC heavy and will continue being OC heavy, and that's mostly to give me freedom with the characters while remaining basically canon-compliant.
In any case, ciao everyone!
